 Issue No. 140 June 2009 |
WAYMARK | www.rffs.org.uk |
President Chairman Vice Chairman Footpath Secretary Honorary Secretary Treasurer Waymark Editor Programme Secretary Publicity Secretary Social Secretary Membership Secretary WebsiteManager (www.rffs.org.uk) |
Rowan Brockhurst Ruth Croker Rowan Brockhurst Kelvin Winch Sandi Bradshaw Keith Davis Charles Sexton Pat Whiteing Joy Tosdevin David Seymour Alison Sherman Tel: 01425 654237 David Knapp |
| News from the Ringwood and Fordingbridge Footpath Society | |
| THE WAY AHEAD | |
In the last edition of Waymark I told you that the new Breamore Railway Line Path was likely to be opening in May. Unfortunately this has not been possible because of 2 unforeseen problems. Firstly a large pile of material which looked as if it was mainly rubble which was located near to the old station was blocking the path. This was thought by Natural England to potentially be the home of hibernating reptiles and therefore could not be moved until the weather warmed up and reptiles came out of hibernation. This "rubble" has now been removed. It apparently contained some good quality topsoil but I do not know if any reptiles were seen. The second problem was the bridge. It had been purchased and an installation date arranged when it was discovered that permission needed to be sought from the Environment Agency. This is because of the bridge's location is near to the main river. The process to obtain permission is underway and I hope it will be granted later this summer. When the bridge is installed the path will be opened and we will have a celebration. I will publicise the date on walks, on our website and by e-mail. In addition to a new path we will probably have a new car park. Our working group has uncovered the tarmac on the old road, currently an unused lay-by and this is likely to become a car park. It will provide easy access to the new path.
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Other rights of way in the area have been improved and I am sure the new route and the surrounding paths will be popular with users. As you know some of our parishes (Whitsbury, Damerham, Martin, Breamore and Rockbourne are located in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB area. The AONB has recently been involved in an activity which I think will be of interest to you. The unauthorised use by vehicles of rights of way has been of concern in many areas of the country and in order to minimise this activity and other undesirable ones "Path Watch" has been set up in some parts of the country. This is usually done by the police in conjunction with other interested groups. This will probably be done at least in the Wiltshire part of the AONB this year. In preparation "vehicle loggers" are to be buried in the ground to measure the usage and speeds on problem rights of way. This will probably include some paths linking Hampshire and Wiltshire. There is a particular problem in the Whitsbury area and if you have walked there recently you will have seen Traffic Regulation Order notices allowing the closure of some rights of way for specific periods of time in an attempt to reduce surface damage. At our AGM a presentation was made to Rowan Brockhurst to mark his retirement as Footpath Secretary after 35 years. Kelvin Winch has taken
over from him and he is currently organising the 2009 Rolling Review. My thanks to both of them.
Facts from our.AGM. A new website. www.diamondsinthelandscape.org.uk It was planned that this would include 60 walks for 60 years, one from each of the protected landscapes. At the moment it only includes 35. If you are visiting another area you should be able to find a good walk on this site. Ruth
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